oppress

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oppress

/əˈpɹɛs/

Rhymes with -ɛs

Where it comes from

From Middle English oppressen, from Old French oppresser, from Medieval Latin oppressare (“to press against, oppress”), frequentative of Latin opprimere, past participle oppressus (“to press against, press together, oppress”), from ob (“against”) + premere, past participle pressus (“to press”); see press.

verb oppresses · oppressing · oppressed · oppress

transitive To keep down by unjust force. The rural poor were oppressed by the land-owners.
Similar: suppress, entrap
transitive To make sad or gloomy. We were oppressed by the constant grey skies.
Similar: begloom, get down, aggrieve, attrist, begrieve, besorrow, grieve, pain, bring down, come down on, contristate, darken
obsolete, transitive Physically to press down on (someone) with harmful effects; to smother, crush. Most mercilesse of women, VVyden hight, / Her other sonne fast sleeping did oppresse, / And with most cruell hand him murdred pittilesse.
Similar: depress, downbear, squash
obsolete, transitive To sexually violate; to rape.
Similar: outrage, violate, vitiate, abuse, constuprate, defile, defoul, dishonour, force, misuse, oppress, pollute

noun oppresses

countable, obsolete, uncountable Oppression.

Translations

Every language

noun keep down by unjust force

Español	oprimir, conculcar, opresar
한국어	압박하다 apbakhada
日本語	圧迫する appaku suru
中文	壓迫 /压迫 yāpò
हिन्दी	दमन daman
Português	oprimir
Français	opprimer
Deutsch	unterdrücken
Italiano	opprimere
Ελληνικά	βαρύνω varýno
Română	asupri, oprima
Русский	притесня́ть pritesnjátʹ, притесни́ть pritesnítʹ
Tiếng Việt	áp chế
العربية	اِسْتَضْعَفَ istaḍʕafa, قَهَرَ qahara, اِضْطَهَدَ iḍṭahada

noun to make sad or gloomy

Français	oppresser

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Cite this

MLA

"oppress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/oppress. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

oppress. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/oppress

Chicago

"oppress." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/oppress.

BibTeX

@misc{oppress_2026,
  title = {oppress},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/oppress},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}